Stanford needed first half to adjust to Army offense

WEST POINT — Something had to give in the clash between Army's offense and Stanford's defense.

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By William Montgomery

recordonline.com

By William Montgomery

Posted Sep. 15, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By William Montgomery
Posted Sep. 15, 2013 at 2:00 AM

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WEST POINT — Something had to give in the clash between Army's offense and Stanford's defense.

Army led the nation in rushing each of the past two seasons, yet Stanford's defense set the program's two lowest marks for average rushing yards allowed in a single season in 2011 (84.4) and 2012 (97.0).

"There's a reason why, for 40-50 years, everybody had the triple option," said Stanford head coach David Shaw. "It's hard to defend. It took our guys a half to get used to it, to understand what they were doing and make sure our responsibilities were taken care of."

Army ran for 157 yards and one touchdown in the first half, but Stanford held the Black Knights to 127 yards on the ground after halftime.

"You practice against it all week and you try to get the best look you can, but you're not going to get the real look until you play the game and get that first snap," said Stanford's fifth-year senior defensive end Josh Mauro. "There was nothing that different that they showed us, it was just a different type of game to prepare for and obviously execute when they're out there."

Mauro finished with six solo tackles and one assisted tackle.

Shaw likened Army's triple option to the fast-paced offense run by Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly, who formerly coached against Stanford in the Pac-12 as the head coach at the University of Oregon.

Like Kelly's system, Army's triple-option attack is designed to take advantage of anticipating a defense's weakness and attacking that area.

"It's like Chip Kelly's offense," Shaw said. "They're going to probe and prod and whatever you're doing, they're going to try to use that against you."

Stanford's defense made five tackles behind the line of scrimmage, knocking Army back a total of 10 yards on those plays. In the second half, Army's drives ended in three punts, one lost fumble and one turnover on downs before Edgar Poe caught a touchdown pass with 17 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

"Everybody has to be where they're supposed to be," Shaw said. "In the second half we did a much better job of that."

Still, the Black Knights ran for 284 yards on 61 attempts, which came as a bit of a shock to a Stanford team that had held San Jose State to 35 rushing yards on 23 attempts in the season opener last week.

"They did a really good job," said Mauro of the Army offense. "They played their butts off and we did as well. We had to make some adjustments in the second half to stop the inside run. Overall, we got the look all week, it's just so much different when they're actually doing it from the scout team doing it."